Family Picture

Author: saraluvzbonz
Story: Family Picture
Rating: K
Summary: Drabble. Brennan's response to one of Parker's drawings.

Temperance Brennan grabbed two beers from the refrigerator and closed the door. A child's crayon drawing caught her attention momentarily. It consisted of three figures. The left was labeled 'Mommy,' the smaller middle figure 'Me,' and the one of the right, the largest, was Daddy. Parker had written his name in large awkward letters in the top right corner.

Seeley Booth wandered into the kitchen wondering why his partner was taking so long returning with their drinks and found her staring at an old drawing of Parkers. He scuffed his feet loudly to get her attention.

"This is a great picture," she said.

"I've never really liked it."

"Why not?"

"Parker told me that he made us looking away from him because we don't get along," he answered sadly.

She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment before deciding to speak her mind. "Better this way than for the two of you to have been together and gotten a divorce. Although it's not ideal, it's what's normal for him. "

"It shouldn't have to be this way though." Frustration was evident in his tone of voice.

"True, but life rarely is the way we think it ought to be."

Booth noticed a frown flit over her expression. "Temperance?"

"There were times in my life that a drawing of my family would only have one person, me. Parker's a lucky kid." Her voice was soft and steady, but he could hear the pain hidden behind her words.

He enveloped her in a hug. "You have two families now: me and the squints, and you got your father and back."

"I know. But neither really makes up for all the years that I had none," she whispered against his chest.

When she was in his arms, her family seemed so real, but other times it seemed as though the wind might simply blow them away. She wondered when she'd become so comfortable with him that sharing her emotions came naturally. Somehow his presence banished the loneliness she felt.

She tightened her arms around him momentarily and then pulled back from the hug, ending the moment. She grabbed the beers off the counter. "I got the drinks. Let's finish the paperwork."